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Poland v Senegal (2018 World Cup)
| next = }} Poland v Senegal was a match which took place at the Otkritie Arena on Tuesday 19 June 2018. Preview and teams's preparation Poland defender Kamil Glik could be in contention to face Senegal as be bids to return from the shoulder injury which was expected to keep him out of the World Cup. The Monaco player looked set to be replaced after the injury in training but is now expected to return by the final group game - if not sooner. Senegal lost defender Saliou Ciss on the eve of the tournament to injury. Caen's Adama Mbengue was the late call-up to replace him. Poland and Senegal each have a star forward on the back of a spectacular club season - Robert Lewandowski and Sadio Mane respectively. Captain Lewandowski was a sensation in qualifying for Poland, scoring more than anyone else in the European groups, with a record 16 goals in only 10 games - more than half of Poland's total of 28 goals. He was the Bundesliga's top scorer with 29 league goals for Bayern Munich - 41 in all competitions. On the eve of the World Cup, Poland's post office released five million stamps with his name, face and RL9. Poland only kept two clean sheets in qualifying and had the worst defensive record of all the European group winners - and they could be tested greatly by Liverpool striker Mane. Mane scored 20 goals in all competitions for the Reds, including 10 in the Champions League - joint second with team-mates Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah, only below Cristiano Ronaldo's 15. Senegal are managed by former Birmingham City and Portsmouth midfielder Aliou Cisse, who was their captain at their only previous World Cup - in 2002 when they reached the quarter-finals. Head to head This will be the first ever encounter between Poland and Senegal. Poland are unbeaten in their three games against African opposition at the World Cup (W1 D2). These three games have produced only one goal. Match Senegal deservedly defeated Poland in a game of few chances to claim the first win by an African team at the World Cup - although there was a hint of controversy about their second goal. M'Baye Niang sprinted back on to the field of play after injury and immediately intercepted a backpass from midfield, beating former Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and Southampton defender Jan Bednarek to the ball. He then slotted into an empty net - to the confusion and disgust of several Poland players, who protested in vain to referee Nawaf Shukralla. The Lions of Teranga had taken the lead shortly before the break when a shot from Everton's Idrissa Gueye took a huge deflection off the unfortunate Thiago Cionek. Poland created little, with striker Robert Lewandowski feeding on scraps and heavily marked by Senegal's huge central defensive pairing of Salif Sane and Kalidou Koulibaly. But they ensured a frantic finale when Grzegorz Krychowiak headed home a free-kick at the far post. The result came hours after Japan had defeated 10-man Colombia in Group H's opening game - and one of the qualifiers could go on to play England in the last 16. It was played four, lost four for the African teams so far in Russia before Senegal and Poland became the final two sides to make their bow at this World Cup. The three north African teams - Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia - had conceded late goals in narrow defeats, while Nigeria were a poor second to Croatia. But playing in their second World Cup, Senegal showed a passion and physicality that their seeded opponents could not handle. Aliou Cisse's team were wayward in their finishing - epitomised by one horribly miscued first-half strike by the lively Niang - and some of their decision-making saw good openings wasted. But they played with great ambition and purpose and showed enough to suggest they could well qualify from what is regarded as a very open group. Like Lewandowski, Liverpool's Sadio Mane had dominated the pre-match billing, but was heavily marked and posed little forward threat. But that will surely be of little concern to the skipper as his team hope to emulate the team of 2002, who reached the quarter-finals. And their superb post-match celebrations, dancing in the corner in front of their small but jubilant supporters, suggested the tournament will be better for having them in it as long as possible. Poland had huge support inside the Spartak Stadium and are the seeded team in Group H - but they were disappointing in all areas. Lewandowski was heavily marked, but apart from a weak shot on the turn that went wide and a free-kick that was easily saved he posed little threat to the Senegal goal. It was the 29-year-old Bayern Munich striker's World Cup debut and he needs much better service if he is to help Poland recover from their terrible start and progress beyond the group stage. Influential defender Kamil Glik injured his shoulder shortly before the start of the tournament attempting a bicycle-kick and is not yet fit. He was badly missed. Not only did replacement Cionek suffer the misfortune of deflecting an innocuous-looking shot into his own net, but the entire backline struggled to cope with the pace and physicality of their opponents. Poland brought on defender Jan Bednarek for Jakub Blaszczykowski - who had a miserable game on his 100th appearance for his country - at the restart and switched to five at the back, with the full-backs pushing forward. But despite a marginal overall improvement it could not eradicate the sloppiness in midfield, which was evident as Senegal extended their lead. Krychowiak's backpass at best showed a lack of awareness and left Szczesny caught in no man's land as Niang beat him and Bednarek to the ball before slotting into an empty net. Krychowiak's header was well taken four minutes before full-time but it could not mask a disappointing afternoon for Adam Nawalka's team. Details |goals2 = Cionek Niang |stadium = Otkritie Arena, Moscow |attendance = |referee = Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain) }} |valign="top"| |valign="top" width="50%"| |} Group H Table |w=1 |d=0 |l=0 |gf=2 |ga=1 |bc=lightgreen}} |w=1 |d=0 |l=0 |gf=2 |ga=1|bc=lightgreen}} |w=0 |d=0 |l=1 |gf=1 |ga=2}} |w=0 |d=0 |l=1 |gf=1 |ga=2}} |} Match Stats= {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |- !width=130|Overall !width=70|Poland !width=70|Senegal |- !scope=row|Goals scored |1||2 |- !scope=row|Total shots |11||8 |- !scope=row|Shots on target |4||2 |- !scope=row|Ball possession |61%||39% |- !scope=row|Corner kicks |3||3 |- !scope=row|Fouls committed |8||15 |-| Images= Poland v Senegal (2018 World Cup).1.jpg Poland v Senegal (2018 World Cup).2.jpg Poland v Senegal (2018 World Cup).3.jpg Poland v Senegal (2018 World Cup).4.jpg Poland v Senegal (2018 World Cup).5.jpg Poland v Senegal (2018 World Cup).6.jpg Poland v Senegal (2018 World Cup).7.jpg Poland v Senegal (2018 World Cup).8.jpg Poland v Senegal (2018 World Cup).9.jpg Poland v Senegal (2018 World Cup).10.jpg Poland v Senegal (2018 World Cup).11.jpg Poland v Senegal (2018 World Cup).12.jpg Poland v Senegal (2018 World Cup).13.jpg Poland v Senegal (2018 World Cup).14.jpg Poland v Senegal (2018 World Cup).15.jpg See also *2018 FIFA World Cup :*2018 FIFA World Cup Group H External links *Match report at BBC.co.uk Category:2018 FIFA World Cup Matches